The present invention relates to a batting practice device including apparatus for selectively controlling the trajectory of a deflected ball within the batter's hitting zone.
Various types of devices have heretofore been designed to enable a batter to practice the skills associated with striking a moving ball with a bat. Devices employing a moving ball can be placed into two categories. The first category of devices includes devices known as "pitching machines." Pitching machines pitch or hurl a ball through the batters hitting zone in a trajectory similar to that which would be achieved by a live pitcher. Utilization of a pitching machine device obviously requires the demanding skill of timing the arrival of the ball as it approaches the batter's hitting zone. The present invention allows the batter to practice the motor skills associated with striking a moving ball without requiring the use of the skills associated with timing the arrival of the ball as it approaches the batter's hitting zone.
The second category of devices includes devices that have become known as "toss" or "soft toss" machines. Toss or soft toss devices simulate the flight of a ball that has been delivered into the batter's hitting zone by a gentle underhand toss. Examples of such toss type devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,548,407 issued to Sato and 4,538,810 issued to Brophy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,407 discloses a toss batting trainer including a ball tosser positioned below the discharge end of a track feeder for deflecting each ball discharged from the feeder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,810 discloses a baseball dispensing device for batting practice including a spring adapted to propel a ball vertically upward. Utilization of a toss type device generally requires some means of protecting the device from a batted ball, such as a screen, if the device is positioned in the same relative direction to the batter as would be occupied by a pitcher. When convenience and economic practicality necessitate the use of a toss type device in a position where it is removed from the line of flight of a normally batted ball, the ball must then enter the batter's hitting zone from an unrealistic direction. Regardless of the relative positioning of the toss device and the batter and the low velocity of the ball from the toss device, the batter is still required to use the skills associated with tracking and timing the ball as it approaches and enters the batter's hitting zone.
The present invention allows a batter to practice the skills associated with hitting a ball at various locations within the hitting zone while only requiring the batter to visually intercept the ball at a point within the hitting zone. That is, the present invention does not require a batter to utilize the skills of visually tracking and timing a ball as it approaches the hitting zone. The present invention also allows a batter to practice hitting balls successively directed to various locations in the hitting zone without requiring an adjustment in the relative positioning of the batter and the batting practice device.